


Scripta manent

by ElephantLoveMedley



Category: All For The Game - Nora Sakavic
Genre: Drawing, M/M, Therapy
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-03
Updated: 2019-12-03
Packaged: 2021-02-18 13:09:52
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,161
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21661333
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ElephantLoveMedley/pseuds/ElephantLoveMedley
Summary: Andrew learns to draw so that he can put all his favourite memories of Neil on paper.
Relationships: Andrew Minyard & David Wymack, Betsy Dobson & Andrew Minyard, Neil Josten/Andrew Minyard
Comments: 12
Kudos: 154





	Scripta manent

**Author's Note:**

> This idea has been on my mind for a lot of time. I wanted to write more about it, but in the end I decided to focus on Bee and Andrew's relationship. I miss them and I think she's a really beautiful character.   
> Tell me what you think! :)

He entered Bee's office and hugged her. It has been four months since his last visit to Palmetto, two days since they texted. 

The hug was brief, but for Andrew it was still a novelty, introduced by her and Nicky the day of their graduation. He had made the best of it and replied with a yes everytime that Neil asked for one. He hadn't seen him in two months, so he had dedicated his whole morning to him. Neil had skipped classes and Andrew had waited for him to go to practice to come to Bee's office. He had made an appointment the second his confirmation for the flight back had arrived.   
"Andrew, I'm so happy to see you. How's everything going?" She handed him a cup of hot chocolate. He thought about his diet plan and said fuck it. Tomorrow Kevin will join them, so he might enjoy himself till the quiet lasted.   
"Better than I thought, still boring." Still difficult, he missed Neil so much, but he couldn't say that out loud. He had just worked up to the concept of wanting, it would take time to admit that he missed him. "I adopted a cat."  
"It helps with your boring life?" Bee chuckled. "What's its name?"  
"King." Andrew took his phone out of his pocket and showed her some pictures. "And it didn't really help. I'm thinking about having an hobby."  
"Yeah, what did you have in mind?"  
He fidegted with his cup, but he never left her gaze. "Drawing."  
"Oh, Andrew, that's an amazing idea. You know I take classes? That could be so soothing, seeing all the colours mix on the canvas."  
"No, I was thinking about realistic drawings. Portraits."  
Bee smirked. "Do you mind telling me why, Andrew?"  
"It's more challenging."   
Bee laughed. "Are you finally a fan of challenges? Should I call Kevin?" She kept on laughing.   
He liked her laugh, he knew she wasn't laughing at him, but at his joke. She was one of the few people that got his sense of humor. She knew that he would never walk in this office and bring up an issue on his own, if he didn't want to talk about it. He came here for this.   
Andrew had spent a lot of time thinking about this, he had seen every angle of it, every pro and cons. Admittedly there was nothing contrary.   
"I want to draw Neil."  
"That's a good subject."  
"I know." He drank a bit of his chocolate, licking it off his upper lip. "He has his camera now and has permission to snap a picture whenever he wants. I have my memory. I want to show him how I see him. I want my memories to become his, too."  
"Oh, Andrew, this is an amazing idea."   
Bee dived in a detailed explanation of different courses and classes and Andrew didn't take notes, but he listened to every word. That was the same.   
"And, look, I know you'd prefer to do this online and at home. Ultimately it's your choice, but I would advise you to go to classes, that way you'll have feedback and you might make a new friend or two. Look what happened with Renee."  
"There's no one else like Renee."  
"I know, but there might be someone that you could tolerate. Just for a couple of hours."  
"I'll think about it."  
"Perfect."  
They said their goodbyes and he handed her a glass figurine. It was a penguin. He had yet to find a bee. She loved it. 

  
Andrew didn't have his maserati, so he walked to the court. Practice was still going on.   
He stopped at Dan's pictures and found one of Neil smiling on the bus, sunset in his hair. He thought that for his first classes (yes, he had already decided to join a class, but he wasn't going to tell Bee right now) it might be useful to bring a picture for reference.   
He put his cigarette in his mouth and started to peel the picture off the wall.  
"Hey, no vandalising the building, you idiot."  
He kept going on with his work. "I'm not vandalising. I'm trying to improve your aesthetic. Who would want to look at that?"  
Wymack smiled. "I might know a person."  
"Shut up."  
"If you throw away that cigarette I might offer you some whiskey."  
"Walker Blue?"  
"Obviously."  
Andrew took the cigarette and stepped on it, grinding it on the ground. Wymack looked like he was going to scream. "For fuck's sake, Minyard, not on my court!"  
Andrew shrugged and headed for his office. 

  
He waited for Neil to finish his shower and, yes, there it was, another reason why he wanted to become good at drawings. Neil. Neil with a towel on his shoulders, auburn hair sticking in every direction because he still didn't know what a comb was, reddened cheeks and blue, blue eyes.   
Andrew got lost in it. 

  
He bought a sketchbook the next day and he kept it hidden in his bag. The week flew by. He left his hoodie to Neil, Minyard 3 on his back, and Andrew might have found something new to draw. He realized that if he had been able, he would have filled the entire sketchbook with just these few days of Neil. He wondered how many shelves they would need for a lifetime of memories.   
Andrew didn't want to leave Neil, but he got something to look forward to now.

  
A year later, a new friend and three more sketchbooks in his bag, he walked into Bee's office.   
"Hi, Andrew." She smiled brightly at him, even though they had seen each other the day before. "Have you shown Neil your drawings?"  
"Yes." Andrew held on tight on his mug of hot chocolate.   
"And?"  
Andrew couldn't help the little smile tugging at his lips. "And the idiot is still looking at the first one. I spent a whole year trying to draw him perfectly and he still looks at the shitty portraits I did at the beginning, at the notes, at dates and conversations."  
"Do you mind it?"  
"No, he can do whatever he wants. I did it for him." And there was fondness in his voice. "I'll keep on drawing. Maybe I'll add some exy in my latest ones and he'll finally look at them."  
Bee chuckled. "Maybe he just needs some time to go through everything."

  
They were packing, both of them ready to go back to their team. Wymack's house was quiet. Andrew zipped up his bag.  
"Andrew, wait, you left out your sketchbooks."  
"Keep them, junkie. I have already looked at them."  
Neil smiled "Thank you, Andrew." and he put the sketchbooks in his carry on bag instead of his suitcase. 

  
The next picture Andrew received from Neil was of Neil's home, Sir sitting on a bookshelf, the top shelf filled with sketchbooks of different colours and sizes. Andrew smiled. Maybe it will last a lifetime.


End file.
